The 5-year-old who was thrown off a third-floor balcony at the Mall of America in Minnesota earlier this month is “alert and conscious,” his family said.
“All praise, glory and honor to Jesus! He saved our son’s life and is healing him in the most miraculous ways. We are so elated to let you know that our son is now alert and conscious and is no longer in critical condition!,” the family said in a statement.
The boy, who has not been publicly identified, was in critical condition immediately after the incident on April 12. His family said last week that he was still in intensive care.
The family is hoping the boy will be released from the hospital by June, the statement said, as they will now focus on additional surgeries, healing, and rehabilitation.
In the statement, the family also thanked the community for their continued prayers and support.
“The road to recovery remains long, but with God and you, we are assured to make it through,” the family said.
The boy fell nearly 40 feet when Emmanuel Deshawn Aranda, 24, picked him up and threw him over a balcony’s railing at the famed mall, police said.
Aranda has been charged with attempted murder.
The boy and his mother were outside the Rain Forest Café when Aranda came up close to them, according to a criminal complaint. The mother had never seen Aranda before, and she asked if she and her son should move.
Instead, Aranda picked up the boy and threw him over the railing, the complaint states.
Aranda told police he had come to the mall a day earlier intending to kill an adult, but that did not “work out,” according to the complaint.
So he returned the next day and apparently chose the boy instead.
Aranda told police he knew what he was planning to do was wrong. He explained he had visited the mall for years, trying to speak to women there, but they rejected him. Aranda said that made him lash out.